A combination of old sports injuries, bad habits, and lack of health insurance put me there. A new career with health benefits, several surgeries, and several years later I was exercising again but my weight seemed stuck in the mid 220s. Having always had a slow burning system and being a bit older I thought I was stuck there for good, which I was for several years.

I haven't changed any of the foods I eat. The feedback mechanisms built in the Hacker's Diet basically showed me what my bad habits were. Things like snacking in front of an open refrigerator and noshing.

My meals looked pretty much the same, but with these bad habits cleaned up and eating less my weight came down about a pound a week.

I'm going to relax and focus on maintaining my new weight for a while. Then I am going to find a good sports medicine clinic to get physical therapy to get my bad shoulder ( reconstructed after ligament damage, torn rotator cuff ) and bad knee ( torn, missing cartilage ) ready for weight lifting.

My female friends have been telling me that I am in serious need of non-baggy pants. After I get a chance to get a new hair cut I will start on rebuilding my warddrobe.

And please do get rid of the baggy pants. We women have been over them for awhile. You could even go one better and find a store that has men's pants with a European cut. The American tailored pants (even from European countries) is unflattering on men and women. There's a reason why you can spot an American tourist anywhere - regardless of weight.

Oh, my . Do I dare ask what that is? Here American style is to not wear underware

In the U.S. we call that "going commando".

If I had to guess what DV means by European pants fitting better I would say fitting snugly around the ass. I've gotten the impression from talking to female friends about fashion advice that they get just as disturbed over a pair of well formed glutes as we do, they are just more discreet and tasteful about their enthusiasm.

If you look at men and women in the US, women tend to wear tighter pants which flatters their lower body. Even when men's pants aren't baggy/too large like in my situation there tends to be a lot of extra cloth around the derriÃ¨re and thighs.